Barcelona
by KelinciHutan
Summary: After Necros, Peri and the Doctor spend some time on an alien planet.


**Spoilers**: "Revelation Of The Daleks"  
**Disclaimer**: "Doctor Who" and related characters and situations are the property of the BBC. No money changed hands and no copyright infringement is intended or implied.  
**Author's Notes**: Sixth Doctor! Yay! :D This is an end tag for "Revelation Of The Daleks."  
By the way, and before anyone says anything, the Doctor states (in "Revelation Of The Daleks") that he is a "900-year-old Time Lord." Doctors Nine and Ten are obviously lying about his age. (His age? Their age? This fandom makes me reexamine the fundamental underpinnings of the personal pronoun! :)

* * *

"…Barcelona!"

"Spain?" Peri asked as the two of them headed for the exit to Tranquil Repose. "Spain isn't fun!" She shuddered. "Spain was horrible. Sontarans, and Androgums, and–"

"No, no, Peri!" the Doctor replied. "Barcelona, the planet!"

"A planet called Barcelona?"

At Peri's tone the Doctor deflated a little and turned to regard her sharply. "Do try to have a little imagination, Peri. Surely you can't think humans invented the name?"

"Well, why shouldn't we have invented it?" Peri asked.

"Why should you?"

"Must you always be so infuriatingly superior?"

"Always," the Doctor said, smugly. "Come on."

The two of them found the exit to the maze under the Tranquil Repose, clambered over the wall again, with less conversation than before, and started across the snowy fields to the TARDIS. They'd lost their heavier clothes, but Peri didn't even notice she was shivering until the Doctor's coat was suddenly hanging off her shoulders.

"You should take better care of yourself," the Doctor told her.

Peri looked up to deliver a sharp retort, but all the fire went out of her at seeing the Doctor's face. She settled for favoring him with a slightly mean look, but she slid her arms gratefully through the sleeves of that multi-colored monstrosity. Whatever she could criticize in the Doctor's fashion sense, she had to admit that his coat was quite warm.

They trekked across snowy fields, and Peri tried not to notice how the Doctor deliberately avoided following their earlier route exactly the way they had come. She really tried not to think about that body that was lying in the snow right now.

The Doctor demonstrated absolutely no reaction to the chill in the air. Stupid Time Lord. Peri climbed into the TARDIS after him, smiled happily at the instant change in temperature, and handed the Doctor his coat back. He threw it across his shoulders, and in a moment they were headed off for Barcelona, wherever that was.

"Should I go change?" Peri asked.

"You needn't," the Doctor replied. "This time of year, Barcelona isn't terribly warm, but it isn't cold, either."

"Alright," Peri nodded. Then an idea struck her. "I've just got to run to my room." She dashed out of the console room. There was a particular piece of jewelry she owned that she'd been looking to unload for a long time now, and she finally had a perfect excuse.

When she returned to the console room, the Doctor favored her with a slightly annoyed glance. "Where have you been? We're already there!"

She smiled, the Doctor's usual moodiness momentarily shaking her out of her own preoccupied thoughts. "Sorry."

The two of them exited into a disgusting-smelling alley, to which was obviously attached a large city.

"I suppose every city has the bad smelling corners," Peri sighed.

"It's less conspicuous than where I usually park the TARDIS," the Doctor said. "Let's get out of here."

Peri grinned and the two of them entered a street up ahead.

"Oh, Doctor," Peri breathed. The city was beautiful and completely different to anything she'd seen thus far in her travels. The clothes everyone wore were all in vivid solid colors, and flowed deliciously as they moved. On the corners of the street were cultivated trees, that had enormous multi-colored blossoms the size of the Doctor's head–hair included–from which exuded a lovely fragrance.

"There we are. Now you can't say I never take you anywhere nice," the Doctor said with a flourish.

"It's amazing! Look at those trees!" Peri grinned.

"Yes. Quite spectacular. I believe they're named for the flowers," the Doctor mused.

"You believe? You mean you don't know?"

"Of course not, my dear Peri. I've never been here before, either," the Doctor answered. "I've read of this place before, of course, and naturally studied a good many more, but even 900 years is far too short a time for a person to visit every planet in the universe."

Peri smiled and then said, "Wait. Studied. I never thought about–Doctor, where did you go to school? Is there a 'Time Lord Academy,' or something?"

The two of them started up the street, taking in the various sights and shops as the Doctor answered, "There are several on Gallifrey, actually. I attended the Prydonian Academy, which is rather the best place for a Time Lord, if you ask me."

"You seem a bit biased," Peri replied with a grin, watching the local version of a butterfly flutter over to one of the enormous flowers as they crossed another street.

"Well, perhaps," the Doctor admitted, "but it was a good time. That was how I first came across the TARDIS, you know?"

"Tell me," Peri said, turning back to him, hoping his voice would distract her from the picture in her mind. The mutant's face still kept superimposing itself over her thoughts.

The Doctor smiled fondly. "Ah, Peri, there are many TARDISes that some would call 'better models,' but none are better in the universe. Before I had her, she belonged to a Time Lord named Marnal. And one day, I simply decided that she and I were to leave Gallifrey and go traveling together, and so we did."

"Wait. You 'decided.' You mean…you stole the TARDIS!" Peri burst out laughing.

"My dear Peri, 'stole' is such an unpleasant word. In any case, Marnal didn't mind. He was through with his own travels, and I think he was a bit sad to see her just waste away in an old room. Do you know, without me, that TARDIS would have been forgotten, or possibly torn apart and rebuilt?"

"That would've been a shame," Peri agreed, too tired from battling the image in her mind to tease the Doctor as she normally would have.

"Are you hungry?" the Doctor suddenly asked.

Peri blinked at the sudden topic swap. "Mercurial" didn't even begin to capture it, she thought. "A little bit. Why?" was what she said out loud.

"Because, that restaurant serves Talidian cuisine. There's no food you'll enjoy better in the universe, I promise you," the Doctor told her with a smile.

"Is that the kind you were trying to cook?" Peri asked mischievously.

The Doctor favored her with a disgruntled look as they entered the restaurant, and did not reply. The two of them were seated at one of the tables, and Peri, having no idea what was good, allowed the Doctor to order for both of them.

The food was delicious. It was rich-tasting, but not heavy, covered in spicy sauces that made Peri's mouth water just with the smell. She'd never had anything to compare it to, but she had a feeling she'd always be wishing to come back to this restaurant for the rest of her life.

As they ate, the Doctor, in a story-telling mood for once, regaled Peri with the full story of how he acquired the TARDIS, and his first trip in it. Afterwards, Peri discovered that the Doctor actually did have money sometimes when he paid for the food, and the two of them went back to the streets to browse.

Then, Peri spotted a shop across the street that sold what looked like some mid-range jewelry. After making sure that the Doctor's attention was else-where, she slipped across the street and into the store.

When she explained her rather odd request to the clerk, she was redirected to the store's manager, on the far end of the counter.

"Now, I understand you're from a rather distant world, and are therefore unable to make payment in our currency?" the manager asked her.

"I'm afraid so. I don't know if you accept trades, but in case you did, I did bring something I think you might like," Peri told him.

"We do receive a number of customers with in a similar situation, so certain trades are acceptable, but we would need to examine what you offered first," the manager replied severely.

"That's fine," Peri answered. She pulled out a box and opened it. Inside was a golden chain, at the end of which was a small green amethyst heart, surrounded by very tiny diamonds. It was quite pretty, but hardly the most fabulous piece of jewelry in the universe. Howard had given it to her on his wedding day to her mother. She hated that necklace with a fiery passion.

By the look on the manager's face, however, she'd stumbled into better luck than she'd thought she would.

"This is actual gold, yes?" the manager asked.

Peri, quickly realizing she'd get a better deal if she looked like she knew what she was doing, said, "Of course."

"With genuine Earth-style diamonds?"

"Genuine Earth diamonds," Peri replied.

"I'll need to test it, but I believe we can trade," the manager replied, pulling out a few small pieces of alien equipment.

It was only a few more minutes before Peri was exiting the shop with a smile and looking up and down the street for the Doctor.

She spotted him on the corner (that coat stood out a mile), backtracking their route. She rushed over, not happy about the concern on his face.

"Doctor!" Peri called, as soon as she was close.

He turned and spotted her. Peri couldn't help but smile internally as his face flicked through apprehension, relief, and then annoyance.

"Peri! Where were you?" he demanded, rushing over.

"Sorry, Doctor. I got separated."

"Yes, well, do try and keep up," the Doctor admonished.

The Doctor decided that shops were far too dangerous and so they headed over to the local version of a zoo. Peri, still trying not to think about the mutant, found herself plastered against the glass cages like a five-year-old the whole time. After that, she and the Doctor investigated the the local version of shaved ice and discovered that it tasted they way they imagined warmed over bin bags might. But the sunset in a local park made up for the horrible taste in their mouths, and so Peri was quite content.

They finally headed back to the TARDIS. When they arrived in the alley a small-ish animal with an impossibly flat face was startled out of a bin nearby. It ran uncomfortably close to Peri's legs on its way out of the alley.

"What's that?" Peri asked.

The Doctor frowned as he looked after the creature. "It looked very similar to your Earth dogs."

"A dog?"

"Well, I suppose it's what a dog would be if it didn't have a nose," the Doctor replied. He held the door open for her.

The Doctor entered behind her and strode purposefully across to the console. He deftly started the TARDIS' engines, and Peri, a little confused at his sudden silence, decided to take the escape route and started towards her room.

"Not so fast, young lady," the Doctor said, catching her with his voice.

Peri looked over. He hadn't even glanced up from the TARDIS' console.

"Now you're going to tell me what's bothering you," he informed her.

Peri blinked. "What makes you think anything's bothering me?"

"I know you, Peri. Anyone who didn't might've been fooled, but you've been far too quiet. What is going on?"

Peri mentally shrugged and then said, "Well, I suppose this is as good a moment as any. Earlier, when we got separated, we didn't get separated. I went across the street while you weren't looking."

"You ran away on purpose on an alien planet? What possessed you to do something so foolish?" the Doctor demanded coming over.

"I wanted to get you this," Peri told him, offering him a box from that jewelry shop. "I wanted to surprise you."

The Doctor curiously took the box and opened it. Inside was a gold pocket watch, similar to the one that had gotten smashed as she climbed over that wall. He picked up the watch with an odd expression and opened it. Peri held her breath just a little as he read the inscription she'd had placed there._With fond apologies for all the trouble.  
Peri_

The Doctor laid a hand on her shoulder. "Only the very best kind of trouble, Peri. You know that. But surely you can't be this upset about a watch?"

"No." Peri sighed and looked away. "That man we met? Outside? The one that tried to kill you? The one that I–" She couldn't finish that sentence. Her confession was so much easier before for some reason. "I keep seeing his face. I just wish he'd been angry with me."

"Peri." The Doctor sighed and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a tight hug. And for a long time they simply stood like that, Peri gratefully accepting the comfort offered. After a time, the Doctor pulled back some, and looked down to her. "You saved my life. You did only what you were forced to. And as hard as it may be to bear now, he did forgive you for what you had to do."

Peri squeezed her eyes shut and did not cry.

"I'm just glad to have you along," the Doctor said. "If not for you, I'd be dead."

Peri opened her eyes, and smiled. "The universe wouldn't know what to do without you, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled and gave Peri's shoulders one more squeeze before releasing her. As he moved to the console, he deftly fitted his new watch to the end of his chain.

"Now, where shall we go next?" he asked with a grin.


End file.
